Dave Chappelle comments on Charlie Kirk, Saudi Arabia in new special

Dave Chappelle is no stranger to controversial comedy, so fans and critics likely won't be surprised his new special tackles topics including the assassination of political activist Charlie Kirk and his own decision to perform in Saudi Arabia.

In a surprise Netflix special titled "The Unstoppable" that dropped Friday night, Dec. 20, Chappelle spoke candidly about the conservative commentator who was fatally shot at a Utah college campus in September.

"And the whites were quick to say this. They said, 'Charlie Kirk is this generation's Martin Luther King.' No, he's not. Yeah, that's a reach. You know, they both got murdered in a terrible fashion. They both got shot in the neck, but that's about where those similarities end," he said.

Chappelle, 52, called Kirk an "internet personality" and a "wholesome white guy" whose assassination was troubling.

"If you talk for a living and see Charlie Kirk get murdered that way. I'll be honest, I was shook," he said.

Chappelle also addressed how he and other comedians, like Bill Burr and Kevin Hart, were slammed for performing at Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh Comedy Festival. The 14-day event overlapped with the seventh anniversary of the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi, a Saudi national and U.S. resident who was killed inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct. 2, 2018.

Chappelle echoed previous sentiments, saying it's easier to perform in the Middle East than it is in the U.S., adding, "But I’ve gotta tell you something — transgender jokes went over very well in Saudi Arabia."

In the United States, Chappelle has faced backlash for jokes about transgender people in previous specials.

“I’ll take money from Saudi Arabia any day just so I can say no over here. It feels good to be free," he said.